Plein Air Abingdon to host nationally acclaimed artists

ABINGDON — Plein Air Abingdon invites artists and friends of the arts to join in a festival celebrating the beauty of Abingdon's historic architecture and natural landscape through fine art.Registration is now open for Plein Air Abingdon, a three-day, open enrollment painting event now celebrating its sixth year. The community is invited to participate in the town-wide festival produced by the Virginia Highlands Festival, Oct. 6-8.Visitors will witness creativity at work on Abingdon's sidewalks and farms. Artists will spend three days painting in the open air with direct inspiration from the mountains, fields, streams and historic buildings unique to Abingdon, Virginia. Family-friendly events each night will offer artists the chance to sell their work of the day.As a painting competition with over $3,000 in cash prizes and multiple opportunities for displaying and selling artwork, Plein Air Abingdon works to integrate support for artists with opportunities for community celebration and arts education. Visitors to the festival have multiple venues for building relationships with artists, supporting their craft, and learning about the process of composing a painting that catches a moment in time on canvas.For Deirdre Cole, executive producer of the Virginia Highlands Festival, Plein Air Abingdon provides an additional opportunity to enrich the arts in the region and support working artists."The fall tapestry of Southwest Virginia is an artist's dream. The colors and textures of our locations are specially selected to inspire both the artist to create and the art connoisseur to grow their collection," said Cole.The 2022 Plein Air Abingdon juror, Beth Bathe, a nationally recognized artist, was most recently in Abingdon as a festival participant in 2020. "With picturesque rolling hills, rural pastoral views, old barns on ancestral farmland, and a town rich with culture," Bathe says she's looking forward to returning to Abingdon.Recipient of Plein Air Abingdon's 2019 "Best in Show" award, Bathe began oil painting en plein air in 2013. She participates in more than 10 high-profile competitions each year from Maine to Washington state, including Plein Air Easton in Maryland, the largest and most prestigious juried plein air festival in the country. Her paintings have won numerous awards and honors and her work is represented in galleries across the country.Outdoor painting venues include Abingdon Vineyards, a local working farm, and downtown Abingdon. Evening events include a wine tasting at Abingdon Vineyards on Thursday, Oct. 6, and an art show and celebration at William King Museum as the festival's culminating event on Saturday, Oct. 8.In addition, nationally recognized artist Kyle Buckland will lead a workshop open to the public on Sunday, Oct. 9. Buckland has exceptional skill in training both amateur and professional artists in the process of oil painting en plein air and was featured as an instructor at the 2022 Plein Air Convention and Expo in Sante Fe, New Mexico. His workshop will include a demonstration and explicit instruction on color, composition and painting techniques. The cost for the workshop is $95; a full list of supplies can be found at VaHighlandsFestival.com.Artist registration for Plein Air Abingdon's three-day juried competition and Saturday morning quick-draw competition is open now. To register or for a schedule of events, visit www.pleinairabingdon.com.